Pocket Squares, the Simple Styling Trick That Will Upgrade Any Suit

What separates the most stylish men in the world from the rest of us—especially right now—is the ability to express your own individuality through what you wear. And if you're the kind of guy who has to wear a suit all the time, the easiest ways to do just that is with a pocket square.

It's not a revolutionary pro tip, but that's how David Oyelowo managed to look so sharp and stylish on The Tonight Show Tuesday evening. For his sit-down with Jimmy Fallon, Oyelowo chose a royal blue suit that, while great, might have faded into the background if it hand't been for his spirited pocket square, an orange-black-and-white piece of cloth printed to look like the wings of a monarch butterfly. It's a cheaper answer to the highly decorated suits that designers like Gucci's Alessandro Michele have been sending down the runway—and if you wear your suits in more conservative settings (like a courtroom or a trading floor), you can always remove a pocket square on occasions when it's not appropriate.

Oyelowo, like all of us, has taken the quest for sartorial individuality a little too far in the past—which is saying a lot for a guy with a demonstrable ability to nail a statement suit. But because it's such a small part of the tailored look, a pocket square can provide just the right amount of interest to your standard two piece. Think of it as the style equivalent of putting dried chili flakes on top of an avocado toast.

Ralphie

Ralphie has no memory of a phlegmatic moment from childhood but grew up to be described as composed, 'calm, cool, and collected', controlled, serene, tranquil, placid, impassive, imperturbable, unruffled... loves reading, writing, traveling, making friends and sharing thoughts. When he's not working on projects and executing startups, he is researching and writing.